


On The Chopping Block

by TheNameIsZ (curiouslygray)



Series: 14 Days of Valentines [8]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Anniversary, Blacksmithing, Blood, Chef's Knife, Cooking, F/F, Fluff, Hospital, Injury, Kara tries to cook again, Streaky the cat, Youtuber AU, damascus steel, proposal, ratatouille - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2019-10-24 17:44:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17708801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiouslygray/pseuds/TheNameIsZ
Summary: Lena is a cooking YouTuber and decides to have her cooking illiterate girlfriend attempt to cook a recipe for a video.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “You’re bleeding all over my carpet.”
> 
> We're officially in the second half of the 14 Days of Valentines and I'm posting this at a reasonable time! What a surprise! And I've gotten started on several of the remaining ones. Hopefully I can get the rest of these written this weekend so I can post the rest also at a reasonable time. Hopefully. Maybe. We'll see.
> 
> Also, imagine Lena's video format as a mix between Jenna Marbles, JunsKitchen, and Bon Appetit's series "Gourmet Makes".

The video opens with a shot of a clean state-of-the-art kitchen - stainless steel appliances, white marble countertops, and black cabinets. There are a few moments of silence before a warm laugh can be heard off camera, followed by a hushed conversation. There’s a cut, and Lena is standing on the other side of the counter. She’s smiling, looking off camera as a charcoal gray Maine Coon jumps up onto the counter. There’s another cut and Lena is now holding the cat, looking at the camera. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she’s wearing a grey tee with “Modern Day Blacksmith” on it.

“Welcome to Lunch with Lena. My name’s Lena. Let’s make some lunch.”

The screen changes to white with a simple graphic of a spatula and wooden spoon crossing each other, an L at the crossing point and the channel name beneath. The video cuts back to Lena, the cat absent this time.

“Hey everyone! Hope you all are having a good day. As you can tell by my lack of apron,” Lena gestures to her general torso area, “and by the video title, you can probably tell that I’m doing something a bit different today. Typically, I make videos showing off different recipes or even showing you all cooking tips and tricks that can benefit everyone from beginner to professional. Today, however, we have a special guest!”

There’s another cut and a blonde haired woman jumps into frame next to Lena. She’s wearing a white tee with a grater illustration on the pocket. She smiles and waves to the camera, “Hey there viewers!”

“For those of you who don’t know her, this is Kara Danvers from Modern Day Blacksmith.” Lena gestures to the blonde as she says her name.

“I’m also her girlfriend.”

Lena smiles, turning to look at Kara, “Yes, that too. But, before we get too much into the video, why don’t you tell us a bit about your channel.”

Kara claps her hands together, “So, as Lena said, I’m one of the brains and hands behind the channel Modern Day Blacksmith. My friend James Olsen and I make swords, knives, axes, and all other sorts of stuff. We make historical stuff for renaissance fairs and nerdier stuff for comic and anime conventions.”

“If you’d like to check them out, the link to the channel is up here,” Lena points to what would be the top right corner of the video, “and down in the description below.” Kara points down, doing a little dance as she does.

“Anyways,” Lena said with a laugh as she bats at Kara’s hands, which had turned and started poking her in the side, “Kara loves the food I make her, but she’s not that greatest cook herself.” Kara feigns offense and Lena just shrugs, “It’s true. Due to this, I thought it would be a fun video if I set her loose in the kitchen and gave her a recipe to follow.”

“And for some reason, I agreed to this humiliation,” Kara looked at Lena, “What recipe will I be screwing up today?”

“Today, Kara, you will be attempting a one pan meal with sausage and vegetables.”

Lena snaps her fingers and suddenly the counter is covered with a sheet pan, a roll of aluminum foil, several types of vegetables, a package of sausage, a collection of spices, and various cooking utensils.

“Think you can handle all of this?” Lena asks Kara, her eyebrow cocked in a challenge.

“I’ve crafted swords almost as big as you. I think I can handle some vegetables.” Kara grabbed a red bell pepper, tossing it up and catching it, giving Lena a confident smile. Lena hands over the recipe to Kara, “If you need me, I’ll be right behind the camera.”

There’s another cut and Kara is now alone and wearing a brown leather apron.

“Kara! What are you wearing?”

Kara holds her arms out, looking down briefly before looking at Lena off camera, “You told me I’d be wearing an apron, so I brought mine!”

Lena’s laugh comes from off screen as white fabric is thrown at Kara, “You don’t need your blacksmith apron. That one will do fine.”

Kara just throws it back to Lena, insisting that her apron will be fine. The video cuts a few times, Lena showing Kara how to work the oven, Kara lining the sheet pan with foil and washing the different vegetables.

As Kara begins to chop the red potatoes, she starts speaking, but not trusting herself to look at the camera, “It’s been wonderful dating Lena for  _ many _ reasons - she’s wonderful and amazing and-”

“Oh shut up.” Kara laughs at Lena’s interjection.

“One of the other reasons relates to what Lena said earlier. I  _ love _ her cooking. Honestly, I just love food - who doesn’t? You need to live! But her food is especially good. Plus with all the work I do, I burn a lot of calories. Before Lena, I just ate a lot of take out food. I was basically still living on a college diet.”

“I’ve seen her eat an entire large meat lovers pizza in seven minutes. It was honestly kind of terrifying,” Lena says flatly from off camera.

“You did say you were impressed though.”

“Yes, and terrified. And now I’ve graced your life by providing you with actual food and substance.”

Kara nodded aggressively before grabbing the red bell pepper she had been tossing earlier. She went back to chopping, “I’ve noticed that my muscles have become more defined. Maybe it’s because I’m not just stuffing my body full of junk food.”

She stopped to flex for a moment, the t-shirt sleeve hugging her bicep, “I had forgotten how nice it was it have actual meals consistently. It’s great.”

Kara continued chopping, talking back and forth with Lena. A few cuts were made, the process sped up a bit, showing Kara cutting up a green bell pepper, some broccoli, and green beans. Once she finished, Kara placed all the chopped vegetables onto the pan. She held up the package of sausage and the knife.

“Let’s get choppin’.” A light bulb went off in Kara’s head, and she dropped her hands to the counter, looking off screen again, “Why didn’t I think of that before? You know what, cut that bit, and put it at the beginning.”

Lena just laughed as Kara took the knife and punctured the packaging. She sliced it open, removing the sausage and putting it on the cutting board. Kara began to slice the sausage, making it a quarter of the way before she stopped, pulling her left hand back. A tone bleeped out what Kara said, but she held her hand, looking at it concerned. There was a noise of a chair being slid back and hurried footsteps, Lena suddenly appearing and looking at Kara’s hand.

“Kara! You’re bleeding all over my kitchen!”

“It’s just a cut. Get me a bandaid and-”

Lena grabbed some paper towels, wrapping them around Kara’s thumb, “That’s a deep cut! Sit down. I’ll clean this up so Streaky doesn’t try to eat anything, but then I’m driving you to the hospital.”

A cut in the video shows both Lena’s and Kara’s aprons on the counter, Streaky lounging on top of them, tail twitching indifferently. Lena is behind the counter, putting on a light jacket and grabbing her keys.

“You’re making a big deal-”

“Kara you almost cut off your thumb. I’m not going to let you just slap a bandaid on that.” Lena’s voice was stern, but full of concern.

The video cuts a few times to Kara riding shotgun in the car, Lena driving, and them walking into the hospital. The video cuts to black, fading back to Lena, obviously recording on her phone. She sits against a light cream wall, the edge of a painting visible off to the right.

“Kara has to get stitches. They’re giving her antibiotics to prevent an infection. Obviously cooking didn’t go as planned, and now I have no clue what I’m going to do with this footage.”

The next cut shows a sage green couch, Lena sitting on it with a chunky knitted gray blanket across her lap. Streaky jumps up onto the couch, padding over into Lena’s lap and settling down. Kara joined shortly after, her left thumb bandaged.

“So, in case you can’t tell,” Lena started, petting Streaky who was kneading her thigh, “Kara cooking didn’t turn out too well.”

Kara held up her bandaged hand, “I guess I should leave the cooking to you.”

Lena sighed, taking Kara’s right hand in hers, “I’m just glad you didn’t cut off your thumb.” She turned and looked at the camera, “Well, I guess that wraps up this video. Maybe we’ll attempt this again in the future with something that doesn’t involve blades. Maybe a simple pasta dish.”

“We probably should have started with that, honestly,” Kara commented, “But, we’re gonna wait for it to heal up first. But, I’m sure I’ll be showing up in videos every now and then anyways.”

Lena looked at Kara, “Would you like to close out the video?”

“Sure!” Kara looks back to the camera, “Anyways, that’s the video for today guys. My name is Kara and I’m with Modern Day Blacksmith here on YouTube. You can find us on twitter - @ModernDayBlacksmith and @k_danvers. This has been Lunch with Lena. Have a  _ grate _ day!”

The screen fades to the same graphic as the beginning, some lighthearted music playing over it. Some short bloopers followed, cutting to Lena and Kara standing behind the counter which was covered again with unchopped vegetables.

“What are you doing?” Lena asked, trying to look at Kara’s phone.

“You’ll see.”

Lena just shook her head, looking back to the camera, snapping her fingers. She motions to the spread before them, “Think you can handle-”

Music started playing from Kara’s phone, and Lena groaned, “Do you have to play that  _ every time _ I cook?”

Kara just laughed, dancing around to the remix of Lazy Town’s “Cooking By The Book”. “This remix is great! What are you talking about?”

The video cut again to more footage of Kara chopping vegetables and talking with Lena, telling her about some of the projects she’s worked on for her channel. Another cut plays more video of the hospital, the camera pointed to the floor as they talk to the doctor. A third and final cut goes back to Kara, Lena, and Streaky on the couch.

“Did I do alright?” Kara asked earnestly, playing with Lena’s hand.

“I mean, you didn’t  _ actually _ cut your thumb off.”

Kara just gives Lena a hard look. Lena smiles and leans over to Kara, kissing her, “I love you, regardless of your cooking ability.”

The video fades to black, ending on their soft laughter.

-

Lena set the video to export before standing up and walking over to behind Kara who sat on the couch. She leaned over, wrapping her arms around Kara’s shoulders, placing a kiss on her cheek.

“Are you sure it’s alright if I post the video?”

Kara nodded, turning her head to give Lena a proper kiss, “Yes, I’m sure. It’s pretty funny in retrospect, and it will also now show people that cooking isn’t a game. It needs to be taken seriously.”

The very serious face she made with the statement just caused Lena to laugh, nuzzling Kara’s neck. “You’re such a nerd.”

The blonde just smiled, “But I’m your nerd.”

“Of course.” Lena removed herself from Kara, walking back to the desk where the video was still exporting, grabbing her phone.

“Anything in particular you want for dinner?”

Kara smiled, mirth in her response, “How about a large meat lover’s pizza?”

Lena’s sigh and quite response of “goddamnit” pulled a laugh from Kara. But, sure enough, thirty minutes later they sat on the couch watching Netflix and eating pizza. Bandaged thumb or not, Kara wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than with Lena.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara takes over Lena's channel (again) and tries her hand at cooking (again).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this a few weeks ago... but completely forgot about it due to a whole bunch of school work. I do have two more chapters in mind for this AU, but they are not written yet. I am determined to write them, but I have no promises as to when they will be posted. Probably not for two weeks at least since I have finals next week.  
> Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

The video opens with a shot of hardwood floors and a pair of socked feet. The recorder crosses a room, the sound of keyboard typing getting louder. A rolling office chair comes into shot and the recorder sits in it, swivels around to reveal Lena sitting in front of a Mac with large headphones on, bobbing her head presumably to music as she edits video on one screen, multiple recipes pulled up on the second screen, and Streaky curled up on her lap.

“Leeenaaa,” Kara started, reaching out to poke her girlfriend in the shoulder, “Leeeennnaaaa!” Lena pulled off part of her headphones, making a noise of acknowledgement. Kara poked her again, causing Lena to glance over at her, finally seeing the camera. Removing her headphones entirely, Lena turned toward Kara with her eyebrow raised.

“Yes Kara?”

There’s a cut as Lena and Kara are now sitting next to each other in their respective office chairs, the camera now being sat on Lena’s desk.

“So,” Kara started, “As you know our, two year anniversary is coming up.”

Lena nodded, “I am aware and I’m guessing this video is related to that.”

Kara smiled, “Yes, it is. Well, since you’re the cooking expert in the relationship, I wanted to ask you if you’d be fine with me cooking dinner for our anniversary.”

Lena laughed, her eyebrows shooting up, “And I’m guessing you’ll be recording the whole thing for a video?” When Kara nodded vigorously, Lena sighed and conceded to her girlfriend, “Yes. Yes, I’ll allow you this as long as you  _ promise _ not to need me to run you to the hospital again.”

Kara hummed thoughtfully before placing a kiss on Lena’s cheek, “No promises.”

As the  _ Lunch with Lena _ title slide filled the screen, Lena could be heard saying “I’ll have Chinese ready to call.”

When the video cuts back, Kara is standing in the kitchen, wearing her smithing apron, the island counter covered with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squash, various cooking utensils, and herbs. Kara waves to camera as she begins speaking.

“Hey there everyone! I’m sure I am a familiar face to most of you, but for those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Kara and I’m from Modern Day Blacksmith. But, more importantly and way more relevant to this video, I’m Lena’s girlfriend of two years. The day that I’m filming this is our two year anniversary. I’ve kicked Lena out of the apartment for the afternoon so that I can do this video.”

She motions to the spread of various items before her, “For dinner tonight, I will be attempting to make ratatouille from the animated film  _ Ratatouille _ . From my research, I’ve seen many people who are more well versed in cooking than I am say that this dish isn’t actually ratatouille - and actually Lena has made the comment before. This variation is actually called…” Kara glances down at her phone, and attempts to pronounce the name, “confit byaldi. But, regardless, I’m going to give it a shot.”

The video cuts to Kara taking three of the tomatoes and blanching them, placing them in an ice bath briefly before removing them and setting the tomatoes aside. She then processed to roast the peppers directly on the stove with the exposed flame. After the peppers got a nice charred outside, Kara removed the peppers before covering them with some aluminum foil. Kara then removed the foil after a few minutes, as the captions with directions noted, and removed the charred skin from the now roasted and steamed peppers. When the montage began, a voiceover kicked it.

“Normally Lena explains what she’s doing for making the dish, but I don’t want to lead anyone astray in cooking this so I’ll instead explain why I picked ratatouille. Just over two years ago, Lena and I had our first date. We managed to find an evening that was clear for both of us."

Kara took the tomatoes and peppers and placed them in a blender with a cut white onion, parsley, garlic, and thyme. She added in olive oil and vegetable stock and began to blend the mixture, occasionally adding in some hot water so that it had more of a liquid consistency than a thick sauce.

“This was before Lena’s channel really took off and she was still working in Research and Development at her family’s company. The Modern Day Blacksmith channel was just getting going so James and I had a lot on our plate trying to make fun and interesting content as well as still running a business. It took us over a month to finally have a date planned that didn’t get cancelled due to a last minute meeting, trip or, in one instance, a family emergency.”

Kara then takes a sharp knife and begins to very carefully cut the tomatoes, squash, and eggplant into thin slices. She is extremely careful, even going as far as to make fun of her past mistakes and place a box of band aids in frame. Upon completing the slicing of the vegetables, Kara holds her hands up, stilling holding the knife, and does a little dance at completing the portion of the recipe without cutting her thumb open again. Kara proceeded to take a round baking dish and cover the bottom with an even layer of the roasted red pepper sauce.

“Since we were both so busy at this point in our lives, we decided to not go do a night on the town or hang out in a bar or anything. We decided to just do something simple: a movie night. Now, I’m sure you guys are already putting the pieces together, but I’m still going to explain it because this is my video and I can do what I want. Lena admitted that she had never watched any Disney or other classic animated childhood movie. After searching through my collection, I picked  _ Ratatouille _ .”

Taking the slices of the vegetables and tomatoes, Kara layered them closely in the dish, starting on the outermost edge and making a ring spiraling inwards. In a separate dish, Kara combines grapeseed oil, garlic, fresh dill and parsley, salt, and pepper. She mixes them all together before artfully placing them on top of the rest of the dish. 

“While she was doubtful at first, I am extremely happy to sell her out and say that she watched the movie with extreme fascination, making commentary along the way. At the end of the movie I asked her if she’d ever made ratatouille before and she responded that, for one, what Remy made wasn’t actual ratatouille, but Lena did admit that she hadn’t attempted any form of the meal. I made the comment that perhaps she could make it in the near future, trying to hint that I was interested in another date, but I don’t think she caught on at all.” Kara chuckled lightly before continuing.

Kara angles the dish towards the camera as best as she can without spilling it everywhere and a screencap of Remy’s ratatouille pops up on the screen for a comparison. She then covers with the lid of the baking dish and puts the dish in the oven.

“Regardless, a short while later we began dating and now, two years later, Lena still hasn’t made the dish. So I’ve had to take matters into my own hands.”

As the voice over ends, the video fades to black. After a few moments of black screen and silence, the sound of a door opening can be heard. When the video kicks back in, the camera is pointed at the front door where Lena has walked in. Kara calls out a greeting to her from out of frame.

“Thank you for allowing me back in the apartment.” Lena set down her purse and hung her jacket up on the coat rack adjacent to the door.

“Well, I managed to make it through cooking without needing to call an ambulance or fire department,” Kara said, pulling a laugh from Lena who in turn pulled Kara into frame and into a hug.

“Anything I need to do?” Kara shook her head and told her to go get ready for dinner.

Another cut shows that the camera is now positioned towards the kitchen table where Lena sat, now wearing a simple black pencil skirt and red blouse. The table has two place settings, glasses of water, and wine glasses, from which Lena is already drinking some red wine. Kara, walks carefully into frame, having traded her apron, t-shirt, and jeans for cropped khaki slacks and a simple white and blue striped shirt, carrying the baking dish which is completely covered with a dish towel. Lena eyes her closely as Kara places the dish in the center of the table.

“So,” Lena starts, taking a sip from her glass, “What have I been anticipating since you mentioned this idea two weeks ago?”

Kara smiled, taking a deep breath before she spoke, “When I had this idea, I knew that I couldn’t just make any dish. It needed to be special, while also within my realm of cooking capabilities. I considered making the one pan sausage and vegetables, but I didn’t want to risk cutting open my thumb again,” Lena laughed and nodded as Kara continued.

“The more I thought about it, I realized that there was really only one dish I could make. This is something you’ve been meaning to make for over two years when I first showed it to you, but never got around to.”

Lena set down her glass, exhaling Kara’s name which the camera was barely able to pick up. Kara just smiled in response, “Since you dropped the ball, I decided to take a stab at it.”

With a flourish, Kara removed the towel and the lid. Lena leaned in and looked in the dish, her jaw dropping.

“You made ratatouille for me?”

Kara nodded and Lena pulled her in for a kiss. The video faded to black and, once again barely audible on the camera, Lena spoke in a hushed voice.

“I love you.”

When the video faded back in, warm morning sunlight filtered in through the floor to ceiling windows in their apartment. Kara and Lena were curled up on the sage couch with a gray knitted blanket covering their laps. Sparky sat on the back of the couch, lazily dozing in the sun.

“I’m sure you are all wonder how Kara’s ratatouille was,” Lena started, threading her fingers between Kara’s, “And I am very pleased to say that it seems some of my cooking ability has rubbed off on her.”

Kara feigned offense, but began laughing, “I’m happy you enjoyed it. I’m interested to see how you’d make it differently”

She received a shrug in response before Lena spoke, “I don’t know. You made it pretty well. Maybe I should just leave it to you.”

Kara just snorted before looking back towards the camera, “Anyways, that’s all for the video guys. Thank you Lena for letting take over your channel for a video and thank you viewers for watching this video! Links to the recipes I referenced will be in the description below as well as the directions for what I made.”

“If you haven’t checked out Modern Day Blacksmith to watch Kara and our friend James craft giant chunks of metal into dangerous and sharp chunks of metal, then you totally should. Their channel will be linked below, as well as their social medias. This has been Lunch with Lena,” Lena smiled and chuckled, “Or, I guess, Dinner with Kara. Thanks for watching and have a  _ grate _ day!”

The end card faded into the video with the lighthearted music playing over top before fading to bloopers. Most of the bloopers just featured Kara dancing along to various songs, an occasionally bleeped out swear, and even Sparky trying to join in on the cooking. These clips were followed up by shots of Kara and Lena eating, mostly Lena complimenting the dish. The video ended on a short clip of the two woman dancing slowly, just barely in frame and focus. 

-

“I’m going to have to take over your channel at some point. You’ve been featured on mine twice now.”

Lena placed a kiss on Kara’s forearms, which were draped over the back of Lena’s chair as she set exported the video from her editing software. Kara hummed in response to Lena’s suggestion, “I don’t know. Molten metal, hot temperatures, sharp blades… I don’t know if you’d make it out with all your fingers.”

Lena scoffed in response, “I’m sure I’ll be fine. Especially with you guiding me.”

An idea crossed Lena’s mind. She smiled devilishly, “Or, you know, we could always have James guide me.”

Lena’s laughter filled the room as Kara made a noise akin to a fish out of water, quickly followed by Lena assuring her girlfriend she was kidding.

“I’m sure James would be fine with guiding me, but I’d much rather have you by my side.”

Kara pulled Lena away from her desk, sitting down in Lena’s lap, “I would sure hope so, considering the stitches I had to get from our first attempt of me on your channel.”

“I’m sure that the fans would absolutely love it if we had matching scars.”

The two laughed at the idea as the video finally finished exporting. Not worried about shutting down her computer, Lena pulled Kara into a deep kiss. She hummed in response, practically purring at the sensation. When they broke apart, Kara rested her forehead on Lena’s, softly smiling.

“...Want to watch  _ Ratatouille _ ?”

Twenty minutes later, they were curled up on the couch, Remy’s narration playing through the room. Lena didn’t know how she had gotten so lucky, but as she snuggled into Kara, she realized she didn’t care how. All that matter was that they were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The recipe Kara uses is a combination of Binging with Babish's recipe and Fablunch's recipe, the bulk of it coming from Babish.
> 
> thenameisz.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern Day Blacksmith gets a special guest for this video.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a bit of time since chapter 2, here's chapter 3. The final part has already began being written, but I also started writing this one back when I posted chapter 2, so who knows how long it'll be before I finish chapter 4. However I am very excited about it, so hopefully I can get it posted before school starts back up. 
> 
> Anyways, here you guys go! Hope you enjoy.

The video opens with a shot of an anvil, a knife resting on the far end. A hammer swings down, hitting the anvil and stopping, the phrase “Modern Day Blacksmith” etched into the metal. The intro fades, revealing Kara standing in front of a forge, smiling.

“Hello everyone! Welcome to Modern Day Blacksmith. My name is Kara, and I’m here with-” There’s another cut as Lena appears next to her, Kara gives an over exaggerated face of surprise to her girlfriend, “You’re not James!”

Lena laughs, “That I am not. Instead of your co-worker, you get your girlfriend to assist you. And, because I’m here, I’m sure you have something  _ very _ interesting in mind for your project today.”

Smiling, Kara hands Lena a leather apron, “Actually, this is going to be  _ your  _ project today.”

Turning back to the camera, Kara claps her hands together, “Today, I’m going to be assisting Lena here in making a chef’s knife. Before we get into that, however, why don’t you tell our viewers here why we’ve chosen a chef’s knife.”

Lena puts on the apron, smiling as she does so.

“I run the channel Lunch with Lena where I do various cooking videos, going over recipes and showing you guys tips and tricks to benefit anyone of any cooking level. Kara has come on over to my channel twice now, once resulting in a hospital trip and another resulting in a lovely anniversary dinner, so I figured it was time to return the favor,” she turns to Kara, eyebrow raised, “Ready?”

“Ready!”

The video cuts to black, a disclaimer on the screen reading that the video took a few days to film and that Kara has done prework forming the metal they will be using, as it is damascus steel.

There’s another cut and now shows Lena holding a rectangular chunk of dark metal next to Kara, both standing in front of a whiteboard with various steps of the process drawn out.

“If you notice here,” Kara rubs the beveled short edge of the metal, “You’ll see that it’s flattened. First, we’re going to shove that down, isolate it, leaving enough material there for the knife’s bolster and tang,” Lena nods as Kara continues, ”Next, we’re going to work on the shaping, laying out the framework for the blade’s point. After that, we’ll work in the start of the bolster.”

Still nodding, Lena speaks up, “That… sounds like a lot.”

Kara checks her watch, replying as she does so, “It is, so we’re gonna go do all that and come back for the rest.”

The video cuts to Lena placing the hunk of metal into a glowing forge using tongs, a brief timelapse occurring before she removes it, placing it onto an anvil. A hammer comes done, shaking off what looks like an outer shell that has cooled down. Then, Kara can be seen inserting a tool between the hammer and the steel, causing a divot to be made, the steel now resembling the second phase on the whiteboard drawing.

A cut to a new angle shows Kara explaining to Lena where to hit with the hammer. The frame changes to a close up, showing Lena hammering away at the glowing metal, shaping what will be the blade more and more, the blade being reheated several times.

Back in a wide angle, Lena lets the weight of the hammer fall from the anvil, turning to Kara and James who are both out of frame.

“Christ, now I understand why you guys have so much muscle. And why you guys seem to run hot! It’s like damn furnace in here!” Lena wipes the sweat off her brow as she speaks, causing both of the onlookers to laugh.

“If you can’t take the heat, babe, then stay out of the kitchen,” Kara says, humor in her voice. James laughs, saying, “Oh, that’s good!” while Lena just rolls her eyes, going back to hammering away.

After a few more shots of the hot metal being shaped, the video cuts to Kara and Lena in front of the whiteboard again, this time wearing different clothes.

“Now, we’re gonna take in this bit here,” Kara holds up the metal, pointing to where the blade comes out from the bolster, “And we’re going to  _ really _ pull it out to create the heel. Once we have that done, we can pull the blade out, lengthening it, adding the tang, and then, after that, we can start working on the bevel.”

Much of the following footage repeats a similar process: the blade being heated up and then hammered away, the metal expanding and changing shape underneath the hammer’s heavy blows. A heel slowly starts taking shape, a few shots of Kara, Lena, and James eating lunch as the blade heats up in the forge in the background. Lena can then be seen running a steel brush across the blade and hammering away at it some more.

“This work is really repetitive and seems to require a lot of patience,” Lena says between hammer blows, “And yet sometimes, Kara, you can’t even wait for the pasta to begin boiling before eating it. Uncooked!”

Kara makes an exasperated noise, “At least I’m doing stuff with this. I don’t like just sitting around waiting for something to boil or bake. It’s so boring.”

Lena laughs as the video cuts back to more shots of her hammering the blade. The heel becomes slowly more and more pronounced, even if it doesn’t have that sharp angle yet. The blade becomes longer and longer, starting to look more and more like a knife and not just a misshapen chunk of metal.

There’s a few shots of Kara and Lena measuring the knife, Kara checking to make sure that the blade is still straight and centered before the knife is placed back in the forge. Once removed, Lena is hammering away again, but this time at the bolster with the intent to pull out the tang. She rotates the blade ninety degrees every hit or two to pull it out, keeping it centered, and making sure it maintains the same shape all the way around. Kara jumps in to make a few tweaks here and there, straightening out tang here and there, helping Lena with working the blade a bit more.

Lena and Kara are back to standing in from of the anvil, Lena holding the knife at its current state, looking proud at what she’s done so far.

“So, what do you think so far?” Kara asks, hands on her hips, smiling over at her girlfriend.

“It looks like a knife!” Lena exclaims, “Obviously there’s still a long way to go, but it seems like it’s coming along so far.”

Looking over to Kara, Lena asks what the next step is.

“Next, we’re going to heat treat the blade. To do that, I’m going to use Mareko’s method. Mareko is maumasifirearts on Instagram and makes some beautiful knives over there, so go check him out. For the heat treatment, we’re going to thermal cycle the blade. On the third cycle, we’re going to quench it, and then place it back in the forge to do a sub-critical anneal. With that we’re going to bring the temperature back up.”

Lena’s eyes go a wide at the breakdown, “There are a lot of words you just said that mean absolutely nothing to me.”

Kara just laughs before adding, “It’s alright, that’s what I’m here for.”

The blade, now completely cool, goes back into the forge, not nearly as hot as it was earlier. The blade is removed and allowed to cool before being put right back into the forge. The process is repeated, and the next time the knife is removed from the forge, Lena quenches it in a metal bucket right next to the forge.

The forge is now much dimmer than before, the blade slid right inside. The blade is removed and allowed to cool completely before the shot changes. Kara is sitting on a work table wearing different clothes.

“Okay, so we forgot to film this and I’m currently editing the video, but now what we do with the knife is move on to profiling it and refining the shape of the knife. Let’s get back to it!”

Kara is now helping Lena put on some gear and leading her into a room with large grinder. With Kara’s help, Lena allows the sandpaper to grind away at the spine of the knife. Several shots show different angles of the process, Lena occasionally switching the areas where she is grinding on the knife, working on the heel and the tang as well as the blade.

Lena and Kara are now side by side, Kara explaining that the heel should be the thickest part of the blade, “The blade has some dark bits on it that we’ll get rid of, shaving off some of the current thickness, but nothing too much for us to be worried about. We’ve gone ahead and roughed in the faces as well as the bolster.”

Lena shows off various parts of the knife as Kara explains, “Now, we’re going to switch grinder belts and rough in the bevel some more. Once we do that, we’ll be ready for hardening.”

Kara is shown switching out grinder belts followed by several shots of her and Lena grinding away at various spots of the blade. Some slow motion shots show sparks flying off as the silver metal is held steady against the rough belt.

Lena is now back in the workshop, holding the knife, “We’re now going to heat treat the blade! Specifically we’re going to harden and then temper the blade,” she looks out of frame, “Did I saw all that right?”

Kara’s laugh is heard, followed by her reassuring Lena that, yes, she did say all of that correctly. 

There’s a new cut, showing the blade being placed inside the forge, flames licking out the opening. Next, Kara has the red hot blade in tongs, quenching it, before holding it up. She points to the flat side of the blade, showing a slight curve in it to Lena before taking it to the anvil to readjust, and quenches it again.

“Let’s check the hardness of the blade before we move on to the tempering,” Kara says, wiping off the blade. She then takes a metal rod, a tool that looks very similar to a screwdriver or an ice pick, and runs it along the dark blade. The sound of scraping metal on metal is heard along with noises of excitement from Kara, who looks up.

“The blade is hard! On to the tempering!”

The blade is placed in an oven, siding up on the long flat side, the oven and a timer being set. Lena gives the camera a thumbs up as Kara checks all the numbers.

The two are now standing in front of the whiteboard again, now completely clean.

“So, Kara,” Lena starts, “Why are we going through all of this effort to temper the blade?”

“Well, Lena, in the knife’s hardened state, right out of quenching it, if we were to put a nice sharp edge on it - an edge itself being a remarkable cool thing since we put so much pressure onto a small space and expect so much back,” Kara has turned to the whiteboard, drawing a deep V which appears to be the blade of a knife, “And the tip of a blade is so,  _ so _ small that if you put, say, five pounds of pressure onto the knife, you’re putting a crazy amount of pressure onto that teeny, tiny little point. If the metal is too brittle, then when you try to put that pressure on it, the tip will just break off. And a knife with a broken tip is not a very useful knife.”

Kara wipes away the tip of the drawn knife to emphasize her point.

Lena shakes her head, “No it is not. So, we want a knife that is not brittle, but also has enough flexibility to withstand the forces of the pressure put onto it?”

“Correct! We don’t want to reground the knife once we’re finished with it,” the sound of an electronic beeping interrupts them, “Speaking of which, I think our knife is done with it’s two cycles.”

The blade is still a dark gray color in Lena’s hands, Kara explaining the next steps in the process, “The blade is ready for us to start grinding it. We definitely want to make sure we cool the blade after every couple of passes on the grinder. We don’t want to overheat it and destroy the temper. We also want to make sure our temper is straight going down towards the tip of the blade.”

The audio is boosted as Lena mumbles, “The only straight thing about us.”

The video cuts to more footage of Lena grinding the blade on the grinder, Kara occasionally looking over Lena’s shoulder to check the bolster and the temper, instructing Lena to dip it in the bucket next to the two women every couple passes. The darkness of the blade is slowly worn off to a solid smooth silver. Text pops up on screen explaining that they’re taking as much time as they can, making sure that the blade is centered to the bolster. The text goes onto explain that there are some specific measurements they’re trying to get to, those numbers popping up on screen.

The two women proceed to measure the blade’s thickness before going back in and grinding away it. Kara takes over the grinding, a voiceover explaining that the blade had a slight warp to it and Kara wanted to make sure that it got worked out properly, as well as the transition from the bolster to the blade getting smoothed out more.

Kara is then seen setting up a different grinder, and after a few passes the knife blade is pulled out of Kara’s hands as something from the grinder flies off as well. She pulls her hands back immediately, and after a pause to allow fear induced adrenaline to disappear, Kara turns to the camera and counts her fingers.

“I’ve got all my digits!” she yells out from behind a mask and over the noise of the grinder, “Luckily Lena is running out to get us lunch and didn’t see that. Otherwise I’d never hear the end of it.”

The video cuts back to Kara grinding away at the knife, a brief break to show them eating lunch, before the two go back to grinding away at the blade and the bolster, various belts being switched out for the different grits needed.

There are a few glamour shots of the blade sitting on the anvil, a slight zebra stripe pattern visible. The blade is smooth and thin, Lena smiling as she holds it up to the light and turning it over in her hands.

“It’s so pretty,” she says, looking over her shoulder to Kara who walks into frame.

“And to think that we’re not even done with it yet. Next we’re going to suspend the blade in some water and we’re going to draw back the temper in the bolster. The tang and the bolster currently are hard and we need to be able to draw it out.”

The tang and bolster are now sticking out of some water in a well used metal bucket, a close up shot showing a blowtorch gently working away at the tang, turning it a different color than the rest of the visible metal. The shot is sped up, showing the greenish color working its way down the tang, over the bolster, and eeking its way just over the base of the blade.

The two are now standing back in front of the whiteboard. Kara claps her hands together and starts speaking, “Alright so now we’re actually going to take a quick break from the knife to make a tool to make an s-grind. Because this is already going to be quite a long video, we’re just going to brief over the reasoning. I promise you we will make another video going over the whole process later.”

She turns and starts drawing the blade as Lena starts speaking, “When you’re chopping food, like fruit and vegetables they’ll get stuck to the blade. And it’s not always because there’s liquid in them that causing them to get stuck; the food basically creates a vacuum between itself and the knife. As a way to counteract this, knives will have a bend in the middle to help food release from the blade.”

Lena motions to Kara’s drawing, which shows the blade’s base and tip thicker than the middle, “It’s a bit difficult to explain, but it makes sense and works. Trust us.”

There are a few quick shots of Kara welding some chunks of metal together and very carefully grinding away at the knife, looking apprehensive to do so at first.

“This could very easily screw up everything we’ve done so far!” she yells to the camera over the grinder, “God this is terrifying!’”

Kara eventually starts working away at the blade, pulling back to look at it every few pulls. Some close up shots show the blade against the sandbelt, small sprays of sparks shooting out the bottom. She switches sides of the blade at one point, occasionally dunking the blade.

As she switches the belt, the video cuts to Lena, sitting at a table outside the room with the grinder, the noise very muffled. Lena is typing away at her computer, occasionally chatting with James off screen, as Kara can be seen through the window going back to the grinding.

The camera speeds up for a bit, time passing visible by the amount of golden light shining through the open garage door out of frame, before slowing back down with Kara emerging from the grinder room. She walks up to table Lena is sitting at, plopping down and placing a kiss on Lena’s cheek.

“Alright, we have the hollow done and now we need a convex. We’re going to grab some dinner and then get back to grinding! How’s that sound babe?”

“Sounds like you’re doing a lot of work for what’s supposedly  _ my _ project.”

Kara just shrugs, “Don’t want to have to run you to the hospital at all.”

Lena just rolls her eyes as Kara winks at the camera. A quick time lapse of them in the car, grabbing some Big Belly Burger and eating it in the workshop is followed by more footage of Kara working in the grinding room. Eventually the grinding room fades back to more shots of the blade, the smooth metal reflecting the light and Kara turns it over in her hands, handing it over to Lena to examine.

Now standing in a different area of the workshop, Lena starts speaking, “Now we’re going to finish up the blade with some hand sanding, something Kara has deemed safe enough for me to do with guidance.”

The video continues with close up shots of Lena sanding away at the bolster’s transition to the blade, Kara occasionally stepping in to help or instruct Lena. Eventually Lena starts sanding away at the blade’s spine, Kara stepping into the foreground to explain that the blade should be comfortable in the user’s hands.

The blade is now smoother than ever, the different angles not as distinct as before. There are a few spots circled as Lena works at the circled area, working out the scratches there. The blade is the taped off as the bolster is grinded away at, making the transition between the bolder and tang more of a hard stop.

Kara takes the blade and trances the shape onto paper, “The tang has a slight downward curve, but that’s something we can work with and fix.”

She draws the shape of a handle, Lena making some slight adjustments, but eventually Kara speaks up, “This is the design for the handle. Some nice, smooth curves to make it beautiful and still comfortable to hold. What we have to do is find a way to fix the handle. To do that, we’re going to cut a small piece out of the tang and weld in a threaded stud. Then we’re going to make a counterbore at the very back of the handle material. That way we can make a little piece to insert into that space, making sure everything is nice and tight, staying in one spot.”

Kara is then helping Lena readjust the tang, just taking the very bottom end of it in a bit, before they start working on a very small rod of steel, making their threaded stud. Next the tang has a long and narrow section cut out of the very end where the threaded stud is inserted and welded in.

Kara holds up a block of wood, “Now, onto the handle material! Today we are using some stable spalted maple burl. It should make for a beautiful handle to go on a beautiful knife for an even more beautiful chef.”

“Oh my god you’re such a sap.”

Kara helps Lena carve away at the wood, slowly taking shape and making sure the insertion point is big enough for the tang. Several cuts are made between a variety of machines, showing different items being drilled, shaped, sanded, and fitted. Eventually the camera cuts back to Lena holding the knife, the handle being the block of wood, a bit smaller now with the handle design drawn on in wood.

“Ready for the final stretch?” Kara asks, a grin on her face and hands on hips.

“Let’s do this!” Lena says.

“First, however, we have to do a 24 hour epoxy. So, we’re going to go do that, and see you again in twenty four hours!”

The video shows Lena and Kara disassembling the knife and cleaning it before mixing the epoxy and applying. Lena gives the camera a thumbs up as Kara turns off the lights.

The video changes to Lena holding a cup of coffee as Kara holds the knife, as bright and cheery as ever.

“I still don’t understand how you’re a morning person,” Lena mutters taking a drink.

“It’s always exciting knowing I get to finish up a project! Now, we did let the epoxy set for longer than 24 hours, mostly because we had to take a day off to do some errands because, well, Lena is still running her own channel. This project has taken several days to get through, and now we’re on the final day.”

“Today we’re going to finish up the handle,” Lena says motioning to the knife in Kara’s hands, “And hopefully the final result will be as beautiful as Kara is.”

Kara somehow smiles wider, laughing, “Oh, and  _ I’m _ the sap here?”

The two women laugh, Lena taking another drink from her coffee before the scene changes to the grinding room. Lena works away at the wood, Kara Lending a hand here and there. Slowly the excess wood is grinded off. Lena holds the knife a few times, testing the grip as they work more and more into the handle. The wood slowly changes shape, being rounded out and smoothed down. Kara draws a few adjustments on the wood, carefully leading Lena through the process before removing the tape from the knife blade. Kara gives the blade another check, tapes off the spine and the blade again before Lena grinds away some more at the heel and the handle.

The process of working away at the wood is slow going, several passes being made with some dunks in between to cool it off. The dark marbling on the wood becomes more noticeable, the rough, sharp edges ground out to a comfortable grip. A few finishing touches on the bolster to give the transition between it and the handle are made before Kara gently files away at the handle very carefully. 

Lena holds the handle, fitting perfectly in her hand. She turns it over, the blade wrapped in tape again with some wood blocks on the side, as Kara readjusts the camera before stepping back into frame.

“So for the handle, as I mentioned, we are using burl wood. Even though we’re using stabilized burl wood, you still get some of these little spots,” Kara holds up the blade, pointing to a natural hole in the wood. “We’ve got a couple of these all around the handle and it’s completely natural and normal. Luckily, we can fix these very easily with a little bit of superglue.”

The video cuts to Lena filling in the tiny gaps with superglue, wiping off the excess and sanding away at ay extra dried bits. After a brief check by Kara, they remove the tape and blocks, showing the bare blade.

“It’s a bit dirty,” Kara says, pointing to a few spots, “So we’re going to do a little bit more hand sanding to make the blade as clean as we can. Then, we’re going to do the best part: the etch.”

Lena goes back to sanding away at the blade, very careful in doing so. The handle is then taped off, the end by the bolster before being dunked into some liquid.

Lena nervously stands next to the tube with the knife submerged in the liquid.

“Are you ready?” Kara asks.

“I guess so.”

Lena looks away as she pulls the knife out of the tube. She glances back and her moth drops, “Oh my god.”

The video cuts to them removing the tape, spraying and wiping down the blade. The knife is no longer a single silver. The zebra pattern visible earlier has returned, this time all dark with light stripes. They carefully wipe it clean, run the blade over a whetstone to sharpen it, giving it a few more wipes to completely clean it.

The video changes to the blade sitting on the anvil, showing off the various sides before cutting to several shots of Lena chopping up both delicate and tough vegetables, even Kara running the blade down her arm to show it shaving off her arm hair.

The video cuts once more to Lena and Kara standing in the workshop, the knife sitting on the table before them.

“So,” Kara said, hands on her hips with a huge grin, “What do you think?”

“The knife is absolutely beautiful. The damascus steel is paired perfectly with the maple burl. It’s definitely taken much longer than any of my videos, but this,” Lena holds the knife up, “is going to last longer than any of the meals I make.  _ Especially _ with you around.”

Kara just laughed, shrugging as she responded, “Hey, you make good food. And with this knife, you’ll be making good food in style.”

They turn back to the camera, Kara speaking again, “Thank you guys for watching this video! I know it’s a bit longer than our normal videos, but hopefully you all like the video regardless.”

“If you want to check out Kara’s appearances over on my channel, those will be linked below in the description as well as in the upper right corner,” Lena points to the upper right corner, “And if you want to stick around and watch some of my other videos then by all means feel free to do so. I’m sure this,” she holds the knife up again, “will be making its way into many of my upcoming videos.”

“We’re both on Instagram, I’m over on @ModernDayBlacksmith as well as @k_danvers. If you want to follow Lena, she’s @LunchWithLena. If you liked this video hit the like button below and subscribe to see more videos like this. And, of course, head on over to Lunch with Lena and check out her stuff! Thanks for watching!”

The video fades to black, ending on the etched metal logo.

-

Kara smiled as she set the video to export, removing her headphones as she kicked back in her chair. The filming had taken almost two weeks to do, trying to find a nice balance between their schedules. Luckily they had anticipated the time consuming nature of the project, so Lena had been able to prepare several videos for her time away from the kitchen.

In fact - Kara closed her eyes and listened for her girlfriend in the other room - Lena was testing out a recipe for an upcoming video, the gentle chopping muffled by the shut door.

Stretching, Kara stood from her desk, opening the office door. Streaky was curled up on the back of the couch, lounging in a patch of late day sunlight. Lena was standing in the kitchen, wearing a baby blue, oversized t-shirt that definitely  _ had _ been Kara’s at one point and plain gray shorts. Soft music played in the background as she referenced the recipe typed up on her phone.

Kara leaned against the wall in the open space, arms crossed as she watched her girlfriend working. She was chopping up kale, some sweet potatoes chopped up already sitting off on the side. Kara scrunched her nose up at the sight of the vegetable.

“Why would you ever want to make a meal with that?”

Lena just laughed lightly, “You know, some people actually like the taste of vegetables.”

“Well, those people are just gross.” Kara spoke with mirth in her voice, walking over to Lena and threading her arms around Lena’s waist. Lena’s chopping stilled and she laid the knife down, the blade catching some of the dying light.

“That’s one fancy knife you got there, Miss Luthor.”

Lena smiled, looking down at the damascus steel knife, “Why thank you, Miss Danvers. I made it myself.”

“Well certainly you must have had help. It seems like a complicated project."

Lena shrugged, her shoulder gently bumping Kara’s chin, “I may have had a few helping hands.”

“Speaking of which,” Kara said, placing a kiss on Lena’s cheek as she withdrew, moving around to the other side of the island and sitting down on one of the stools, “The video is exporting and I’ll upload it tomorrow after I get James’ approval.”

“I’m quite happy with the knife and I can’t wait to use it in my videos. It’s a beautiful addition to my arsenal,” Lena looked over at Kara with a softness in her eyes, “Thank you, again. I know that it was a very time consuming project and that many things were new for you.”

In return Kara gave her a smile, extending her hand to Lena, “Anything for you, love.”

Lena placed her hand in Kara’s, the two staring at each other for a few moments before Lena pulled away, “Alright, move your fingers. I don’t want to take you get more stitches.”

Kara’s warm laughter filled the apartment, the flicker of happiness in her eyes warming Lena’s heart, cementing the decision she’d long been debating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The videos I used as the basis for this chapter are from Alec Steele's channel. He made a damascus steel chefs knife over the course of 7 episodes and honestly the process was super cool to watch. If you want to see the whole process, go check it out. If you want to see the final product, you can go skip to the last video in that series. Honestly, watching the videos might make some of my explanations make more sense. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> thenameisz.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Kara is out of town, Lena makes a surprise for her, with James' help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the final chapter of the YouTuber AU. I hope you all enjoy the conclusion.

The video opens with the same intro as the last one, a metal hammer with “Modern Day Blacksmith” carved into the side falling onto an anvil before fading to black. Faint music and talking can heard, fading in with the video. Kara and Lena are in the car, the two chatting about Kara’s trip. Eventually they come to a stop, Lena putting the car in park. 

“Let me know when you get on the plane-”

“And when I land and get to the hotel. I’ll be alright babe, I promise.”

Lena huffed in response, “You know I hate flying. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

Kara leaned over the center console, kissing Lena, “I’m the Girl of Steel babe. A little plane crash wouldn’t kill me.”

Lena quietly mutters “God,  _ please  _ don’t joke about being killed. Just be safe and let me know how everything goes, yeah?”

“For sure. Text me when you get home, ‘kay?”

Nodding in agreement, they kissed again before Kara grabbed her backpack and suitcase out of the backseat. She called through the open window, “See you next week!”

Lena stares out the window, watching her walk into the airport before rolling up the window and driving off. As she navigates the hectic drop off lanes of the airport, she opens Siri on her phone. 

“Call James Olsen.”

_ “Calling James Olsen.” _

The phone rings for a bit before James picks up, _ “Hey Lena. What’s going on?” _

“Hey James. I just dropped Kara off and I had a question for you.”

_ “Shoot.” _

Lena bit her lip, nervously glancing over at the camera.

“Can you help me make a ring?”

The video fades to black before fading back to the forge, this time James and Lena standing in frame. 

“Hello everyone,” James begins, “Welcome to Modern Day Blacksmith. My name is James, and today is a very special day. I’m here with Lena from the channel Lunch with Lena. She’s Kara’s girlfriend and the two channels have had a few crossovers in the past,” he turns to Lena, “Why don’t you tell our viewers what they’re in for today.”

She looks nervous, but is playing it off coolly, “Well, Kara is out of town for a few days for a family trip. During that time, I’ve enlisted James’ help for a little project: making a Damascus steel ring.”

With a glint in his eye and a soft smile on his face, James asks, “And why exactly are we making a Damascus steel ring?”

She glances at James, grinning and biting her lip, “I’m proposing to Kara. I’m making the ring over here on Modern Day Blacksmith, but I’m going to do a video with the proposal over on my channel. If you want to see how it turned out, head over there and watch it. It’ll also be linked in the top right corner as well as the description below.”

Lena turned to James, “Ready to get started?”

He nodded, “Let’s make a ring.”

The video timelapses James and Lena making the Damascus steel. They took a few thin square pieces of mild steel and 1070 high carbon steel, stacking them and alternating each one, before welding the corners together as well as a weld done the middle of each side. The metal was placed in the forge and allowed to heat up before being removed and hammered out. 

“Kara got to have her own little conversation with the viewers when she made the video over on my channel for our second anniversary dinner, but I haven’t had the chance to have a chat with guys like that. Anyone who has been watching my channel or following me for probably longer than a few months has noticed that I rarely talk about my personal life. All of my social media is entirely promoting my channel or talking cooking tips or other related stuff. Occasionally I’ll post a picture of Kara and I, but most of the content of our relationship is over on Kara’s social media.”

The metal is hammered at, reheated, and hammered some more as it thins and spreads out. This process is repeated for a little bit as the metal becomes a thin rectangle. Once the piece of metal is a good length, a wedge is placed on the anvil. Lena places the metal on top of the wedge and hammers at it, causing the metal to fold itself in half.

“I have a… tense relationship with my family, to put it mildly. At twenty-one I graduated with a Masters in Chemical Engineering. I was immediately placed in my family’s business Research and Development department. It’s a small little company,” Lena says sarcastically, “I’m sure none of you have heard of LuthorCorp.” Lena just laughs at the idea that no one would have heard of the multi-billion dollar company. 

The metal is ground to clean it, Lena carefully running the metal over the sanding belt, and then taken to a table where a ring template sits. Lena traces the template onto the piece of metal, placing it in the corner to allow them plenty of extra material should they need it. James takes the material now over to a metal cutting band saw where he cuts out the traced template in a rough square. He then used a metal compass, the kind you’d find in math class, to trace out the inside of the ring and the outside.

“I worked there for a little less than a year before I started posting videos on my channel. Kara and I had met at a mutual friend’s party back when our channels were both starting to pick up some steam. We texted for a few weeks, even grabbing some coffee on the occasional morning or lunch break. I had been the one to ask her out, at the time having been quite practical about my time and rarely wanting to spend it doing frivolous things. She had happily agreed, admitting that she had been wanting to ask me since the first night we met but never being quite able to work up the courage to do so.”

The piece of metal is placed beneath a small drill bit, which is oiled and then turned on. Slowly, the drill bit is worked through the metal, small scraps flying out and catching around the drill bit. After piercing the metal, the bit is replaced by a slightly bigger one. The process is repeated and sped up until the largest drill bit was used, reaching the internal circle made by James on the metal.

“There were many rescheduled dates, often from my end. I had a few meetings that I couldn’t miss pop up or a sudden work trip. Kara at one point had a family emergency that required her making an unexpected trip back to Midvale. Luckily everything ended up being alright, but it definitely took us a while to find a date that worked for us. As she explained in the anniversary video, we didn’t want to do some big event or even really go out on the town. So we opted for a movie night. Kara had managed to get out of me that I had never seen a Disney movie. Why have a normal childhood when you can be pruned for academic greatness?” Lena’s voice turns a bit bitter, but it vanishes quickly.

The metal is removed from the clamp that had held it in place for the drilling and shown off to the camera. The ring is then placed on a different surface with a small circular grinder attached. Lena slowly grinds off the excess material, meeting the inner band mark the rest of the way. The ring is removed and fitting on a mandrel. A few adjustments are made before Lena and James are satisfied. The outside of the ring is then properly sized down as Lena uses a grinding belt with James’ assistance. The outside of the ring is rounded out and Lena smiles at the camera as she holds up a band of metal.

“After a few more dates, we began officially dating. Within the year both of our channels were thriving and I realized I had very little interest working at LuthorCorp. I loved figuring out a problem and the way that things naturally interacted with each other, but after having started this channel, I realized I found more peace in doing that with cooking rather than base chemicals or technology to further fuel capitalism and my family’s greedy extortion of the general populous.”

The outer edges of the ring are smoothed out and checked for thickness consistency by James fitting the ring onto a bit attached to a power drill then ground down on a belt grinder. The ring is smoothed and then set aside in favor of a thin sheet of silver. The inner circumference of the ring is measured and then that length is marked on the silver. The height of the ring is also measured and marked - and then both are measured again - before being cut out of the silver sheet.

“When I stepped away from my family’s company they were less than pleased. My mother had thought that the channel was a passing interest. That it was something that would die before getting off the ground. It’s amazing how many things in my life that I’ve done that she applied that same idea to. One of these was Kara.”

The small silver band is then wrapped around the ring mandrel, fitting to approximately the same spot as the ring was before. Lena then gently hammers the two ends to flatly meet before soldering them to form a solid band. The weld is then filed smooth and the silver band is roughly fitted into the ring. It’s a tight fit, as it’s supposed to be, so it does take some more gentle hammering and readjustments to make sure the silver band is fit snug in the ring without being warped at all. The silver band had a bit of overhang on either side of the ring. By clamping down a ball peen hammer with the ball end facing up, Lena and James are able to bend the overhangs over the lip of the ring with another ball peen hammer. This prevents the silver band from slipping out from the inside of the ring.

“Before I left the company I had brought Kara to a family party  and she was like a fish out of water. Charming and polite, but completely out of her depth. It was funny watching her argue the importance of traditional production to people whose entire jobs are the make production more efficient and machine oriented. My brother found her entertaining at the very least. My mother saw her as a distraction. She had told me that this “passing fancy” of mine wouldn’t last and that I should stay focused on work. Several identity crises and panic attacks later, I decided that the family company was not nearly as important as the path I wanted to follow.”

The outside of the ring is then hand filed down to match the overhangs of the internal silver band. Next the inside of the ring is filed as well, being fitting intermittently onto the mandrel. The ring is flipped, both sides being tested for the fitting once it’s at the correct size. Lena then gently hammers at the ring placed on the mandrel with the wooden grip of a hammer to make sure the ring is set on the size. The ring is then sanded with super fine grit sandpaper before being etched in seemingly the same dark liquid from the knife video for an undisclosed amount of time.

“Kara has changed me, entirely for the good. I mean, even going back and watching some of the early videos on this channel show how cold, emotionless, and almost machine like I was. I didn’t put forth any emotion in those videos. I was being professional as I had been taught a professional should be. I had certain ideas and concepts and habits instilled in me that were not normal. Kara helped me recognize these and has helped me unlearn them and become more human and less programmed robot. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without her. Of course I’m still reserved and I still don’t have the healthiest relationship with my emotions, but Kara understands and she helps. And her and her family have shown me more love in the past few years than mine ever have.”

The next shot shows the ring, finished and clean, sitting on top of the anvil. Some slow panning shots show the pattern up close, the number of layers a wonderful balance where there enough layers to see the pattern but not too many that they all blended together. The shot changes to show the ring sitting on a wooden block, the damascus steel chef knife positioned behind it.

The camera fades to show Lena and James standing side by side, Lena holding the ring in her hand. She’s smiling, clearly happy with the product and herself, but it’s not like Kara’s big, face splitting smile. There’s a happiness that’s settled in Lena’s eyes and posture, a deep seated happiness that has slowly grown over the years.

“So this video wasn’t much of a step-by-step instruction on how to make the ring, but James will put a brief explanation of the steps in the description.”

“They should be clear enough for someone with some experience in blacksmithing. Probably not the best project for someone’s first dive, but if you’re doing it with experienced help,” James motioned between himself and Lena, “Then you should be good.”

“Anyways, thank you all for watching. A second video will be uploaded to my channel, Lunch With Lena, and will be linked in the i-card as well as in the description. If you want to see the planning behind the proposal and how it went, head over there.”

James speaks up, promoting their social media channels before the video fades to a black screen with the channel’s logo front and center on it.

-

The video opens with the Lunch with Lena logo on the white screen before fading to Lena sitting on the sage green couch, Streaky having settled in her lap.

“Welcome to Lunch with Lena. Today’s video is a special one, in case you couldn’t tell by the title. I’m going to be taking a break from the usual cooking videos for a very important life update,” Lena closes her eyes as she takes a deep, steady breath, “Today I am going to be proposing to Kara.”

Lena holds up a small, black box and slips it open to show the contents: a damascus steel ring, “This is the ring I’m proposing to her with. I made it myself over on Kara’s channel Modern Day Blacksmith. The video will be linked in the i-card, as well as in the description. I encourage you to go check it out, but it’s not required for the viewing of this video. Anyways, Kara is currently out of the house - she had to run some errands - so I’ve finally been able to film this without her knowing.”

Streaky makes a  _ mrrrp! _ noise that catches Lena’s attention. She looks down and mutters something to the cat before it jumps up to bump their faces together. Lena smiles and laughs softly before she began petting the cat and looked back up to the camera.

“Kara loves Disney. Any time that they do anything Disney related over on Modern Day Blacksmith, it’s always Kara at the helm. Sora’s keyblade, Excalibur from  _ The Sword in the Stone _ , even Maleficent’s staff. She’s a huge Disney nerd and we often go to Disneyland for dates or when family is visiting. The first time we went, someone made some negative comments about us. I don’t believe they knew who we are, but this was the first time I had really been out about a relationship like this and it, well,” Lena shrugged, “It really got to me.”

Two pictures from the date fades in on screen. One is a selfie, Kara resting her chin on Lena’s shoulder, beaming big and bright while Lena had a soft, small smile. The other seems to have been taken by someone else, the two women standing side by side in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

“Kara pulled me off this secluded little spot - Snow White’s Wishing Well - and helped me calm down. It was the beginning of what eventually become a longer conversation the following day, but ever since when we’ve needed a spot to relax or sneak out from the crowd, we’ve gone there.”

The pictures change to a different one: a small, blonde haired girl wearing a pair of Minnie Mouse ears next to two adults - the man with blonde hair and his hand on her shoulder, the woman with long dark hair. 

“I know this spot has more sentimental meaning to Kara. Her birth parents took her Disneyland a few times when she was younger and they would often use the spot to rest or calm Kara down. Any viewers who know Kara’s past know that her parents died in a car accident when she was thirteen.”

The picture changes again, this time showing four people: an older blonde woman, a man with tan skin and dark hair, a teenage girl with dark hair falling just past her shoulder, and the same blonde girl from the first photo, hair longer and girl almost a decade older.

“She was adopted by the Danvers, and during one of their first family trips to Disneyland, Kara ran off in tears. When Jeremiah found her, she was sitting at the Wishing Well with her knees tucked up to her chest, still bawling her eyes out. Eliza and Alex caught up with them a few minutes later, and Jeremiah was sitting next to her on the ground, one arm around her shoulder and whispering stories into her ear.”

The picture faded to show Lena again, sitting on the couch, “This spot has been a significant spot for her, and even though it seems to be a go-to proposal spot, I know that she’ll know I’m picking it for every other reason.”

Streaky starts meowing insistently and begins pawing at Lena. She gives the camera and exasperated look before picking up the cat and standing. The video cuts back to just Lena sitting on the couch.

“Anyways, I wanted to film the proposal, but there isn’t a reason for me to bring a camera with me. So, instead, I’ve asked for some help from our friends Winn and James. James is Kara’s coworker, and the one who helped me with the ring, and Winn helped me out with video editing starting out,” Lena smiled and chuckled a little, “Actually, it was his party that we met at. So it seems fitting for him to be there as well. Alex will be joining them as well so that she can be there for the big moment, but Alex isn’t the best when it comes to camera work.”

Text reading “Sorry Alex, but it’s the truth” pops up on screen for a split second. Lena’s phone, sitting halfway in frame, lights up and Lena glances down at it, reading a notification, “Okay, Kara’s on her way back so I’m going to wrap this up. Next time I see you, we’ll be at Disneyland.”

She gives the camera a rare, big smile and a thumbs up.

The video cuts to Lena in the kitchen, wearing a jacket, “Okay, Kara’s heading down to the car and I told her I’d be down in a minute, just had to grab a few things.”

Lena holds up the ring box, flipping it open to show the ring inside, “I can’t believe this is happening,” she flips the ring box shut and puts it in her pocket, out of frame, “Winn and James are already down there and Alex is on her way so they should definitely be there before us. I’ll send them a text soon to let them know we’re on our way.”

The video cuts to Winn and James, standing somewhere inside the park.

“Lena just texted us that her and Kara are on the way here. Alex should be here soon so we’re going to head to the secret location,” Winn says to the camera.

James makes a face, laughing as he speaks “Could you use a phrase that sounds a little less creepy?”

The video switches to Alex, is walking through a parking garage, “I just got to Disneyland. James and Winn are waiting over at the Wishing Well so I’m going to meet up with them. Kara and Lena should be here soon so hopefully I don’t run into them on my way to the location.”

This time when the video switches, it shows Lena backdropped against a brick wall.

“Kara is in the bathroom so I have a few minutes to do an update,” she takes a steadying breath, “Oh boy, I’m nervous. Alright so Alex, Winn, and James are over in the secret filming location. We’ve gone on a ride or two and we’re about to head over to the wishing well. I texted Alex that I was super nervous earlier and I almost said it to Kara earlier while we were waiting in line but I managed to stop myself because that would have been a dead giveaway that something is up. I don’t think she’s suspicious thought which is good.”

Lena bites at her lip, her nerves clear on her face, “We’re going to find out soon if this was a good idea or not. Fingers crossed.”

The video cuts again to show Lena walking a bit behind Kara, who asks, “Do you want the quarter or a penny?”

“Give me the penny,” Lena responds, “You can take the quarter.”

“I get the quarter?”

“Yes babe, you get the quarter.”

The video cuts again, this time showing a few short panning shots of the scenery as conversation from a different clips plays over it.

“Remember the first time we came here on a date?”

Kara laughs, “Yeah, I do. Which is a little surprising considering I’ve been here so much. It was your first time to any sort of amusement park though.”

Lena chuckled, “No time for non-educational fun in the Luthor household.”

“Didn’t you spill your drink on me?”

Lena lets out a laugh, “You know I still feel bad about that, even if the dry cleaner was able to get the stains out.”

“I still can’t believe you sent a t-shirt and jeans to the dry cleaner.”

The video switches to a shot of the wishing well, taken from a bit of distance away. The audio seems to have recorded on a device closer than this one, considering the clarity of it.

“Do you have a wish Lena?” Kara asks, looking into the well, “Oh look! Someone put a whole dollar in there!”

The camera cuts a few times, showing the scene from two different angles, taken by Winn and James. Kara goes on talking about the various dollars and other miscellaneous items in the well. There’s a final cut that shows Kara’s back to the camera, Lena standing off to the side with her hands in her jacket pocket.

“Hey, Kara. Do you want to close your eyes and make your wish?”

“Huh? Oh yeah.”

Lena takes a step back, pulling her hands out of her pockets and pulling the ring box out with it. She gets down on one knee, turning to the camera and giving it a thumbs and a big, nervous smile as she does so.

“Hey, Kara…” Kara turns to Lena, now down on one knee with the ring box held up in front of her. At the sight Kara brings her hands up to her face, “You know how we’ve talked about how, despite our various differences, we seem to fit together? How we’ve always said we know we’re in this, together forever?” Kara’s slight hiccup is picked up by the mic, breaking Lena’s speech for a moment. Despite her nervous, Lena sounds confident, the smile evident on her face even from a few yards away.

“Do you want to make it official? Kara Danvers, will you marry me?”

Kara is already crying, wiping away tears, so much so that Lena stands up and places her hands on Kara’s arms.

“Are you okay? Are you crying?” Kara nods her head, a sharp hiccup of breath picked up again, a quiet “yes” heard, “Wait, did you say yes or no?”

They both gently laugh and Kara says, through the tears, “Yeah!”

As both smile, a bystander starts clapping and calls out “Congratulations!”, garnering a few whoops and clapping from other bystanders. Lena just pulls Kara into a hug, both of the laughing and crying, at least a little bit.

“Is this good crying or bad crying?”

Kara shakes her head, “It’s good, it’s all good. I’m sorry.”

Lena places a kiss on Kara’s cheek, “Good, because this is also a good crying” pulling a laugh from Kara who kisses her back.

The shot changes, this time a bit closer and at a different angle. Lena looks over and says, “By the way, Alex, Winn, and James.”

Kara looks over at them and gives them a little wave, still in shock by the whole ordeal, “Hey guys.”

The shot changes back and Lena is showing Kara the ring a bit closer, “I made it myself. Can you tell what it is?”

Kara looks at it closer before responding, “Is that damascus steel?” when Lena nods Kara just kisses her again, “Oh you sap. I love it.”

Kara has a minor panic when she puts the ring on herself before taking it off for Lena to put on her. Lena mentions how the security guy definitely saw the ring and she’s happy he didn’t say anything about it.

“And we got everything on camera too,” Winn says.

“Even all the crying?” Kara asks in response.

“Oh yeah. They got everything,” Alex answers, laughing. She walks out from behind the camera and pulls Kara into a hug, whispering her a congratulations. The video shows the camera being passed around for everyone to give the newly-engaged their congratulations before the video cuts back to Lena and Kara sitting on their green couch.

“So,” Lena starts, “Kara said yes.”

Kara holds up her hand and points to the band on her finger, “I did. Can confirmed that I did and that I definitely did cry.”

“I have to admit I did too a little bit, so at least you’re in good company.”

They started laughing as Streaky jumped up onto the couch and climbed into Kara’s lap, purring the whole time.

“Were you surprised?” Lena asked.

“I was a little suspicious that  _ something  _ was up because you kept checking your phone and seemed a little impatient. But aside from that I had absolutely no idea. You’ve maintained your boardroom poker face for the most part. I was definitely overwhelmed with emotion though.”

“You cried a lot.”

“I did, yes. I just… I think part of it was that the Wishing Well holds so much value to me. And I know that’s why you picked it. You probably spent months or weeks trying to pick the perfect spot.”

Lena gives her a sheepish look, “Actually, you’re only half right. I’ve known for a while that I wanted to propose to you there. Kind of like how you picked ratatouille for our anniversary meal: when I thought about it, I knew there was only one right answer.”

Kara smiles and places a kiss on Lena’s cheek before Lena asks, “Did you like my little speech?”

“Honestly I kind of blacked out once I saw the ring. I don’t remember hearing anything you said. My brain just went complete static.”

“I’m glad you said yes.”

Kara smiles, “I’m glad I did too.”

Lena threads her hand into Kara's as she asks, “So, what did you think of the ring.”

The video cuts to some shots of the ring on Kara’s hand, as well as clips from Lena making the ring, “I love it. I love the fact that you made it yourself, although now that means I’m going to have to make you yours.”

Laughing, Lena responses, “I’m glad you feel up to the task because I already turned down James’ offer to make one for me.”

“Good. Now I get to figure out the design, and that’s going to be a fun time.”

The video cuts back to Lena and Kara on the couch, Lena speaking, “We don’t have a set date yet for the wedding. We may each do a few videos about updates or related wedding things, but don’t worry, neither channel will become a wedding channel.”

Kara interjects, “Also, regardless of how many requests we get, we will not film the wedding and put it up for everyone to watch. We love all of our fans, but there are somethings that are to be kept personal. The wedding itself is one of them. We will post some pictures from the day itself - I mean, who wouldn’t? - but understand that we aren’t the Royal family. We’re not going to publicize our wedding.”

“Anyways, I guess that’s the video,” Lena says, looking over at Kara, “She said yes. We’re getting married.”

“You’re darn right we are.”

Lena laughs as she begins to run through the outro, “That’s the video for today. If you want to follow us on social media, we are @k_danvers, @ModernDayBlacksmith, and @Lunch_With_Lena. This has been Lunch with Lena. Have a  _ grate _ day!”

The video fades to white, some cheerful, lighthearted music playing as the Lunch with Lena graphic appears on screen.

-

Kara settled down on the couch next to Lena who was scrolling through social. They had decided not to make a public post about the engagement until the videos were uploaded in a few days.

“I still can’t believe you told them about LuthorCorp Christmas Fundraiser.”

Lena smirked, “And miss the chance to talk about you almost losing your cool because stuffy old white men are so out of touch want to industrialize and make a huge profit off of anything they can nowadays? Not a chance, babe.”

Kara’s hand made her way to Lena’s thigh, the engagement ring cool against Lena’s warm skin, “Good thing you didn’t mention what happened that night. Gotta keep it PG-13 for the viewers.”

Lena felt her skin flush at the memory but did her best to keep her cool. She turned to Kara, leaning into her personal space, and tapped her chin in thought.

“Hmm… not quite sure I remember,” she locked eyes with Kara and cocked an eyebrow, “Perhaps you’ll have to jog my memory.”

Removing her hand from Lena’s thigh, Kara slid one arm under Lena’s knees and the other behind her back, picking her up in a bridal carry.

“That I can do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it folks! The final chapter finally posted. I referenced two different videos for the ring making, one by Black Beard Projects and one by Nine Worlds Workshop. The proposal is taken from Safiya Nygaard's engagement vlog taken by her fiance Tyler. I hope you all have enjoyed this little AU.
> 
> thenameisz.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this one as well talking about ideas for it with my friend/beta reader. I may end up building this concept into a larger thing, but I have several other ideas that I also want to write once I wrap up this series.
> 
> If you'd like to talk about this AU, you can swing on over to my tumblr (thenameisz.tumblr.com) and shoot me an ask.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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